Variable-resistance exercise machine with network communication for smart device control and interactive software applications

ABSTRACT

A variable-resistance exercise machine with network communication for smart device control and interactive software applications, comprising a network interface that receives input from a user device and provides output to a user device; a plurality of moving surfaces that each provide an independent degree of resistance to movement based on received input, a sensor that detects movement and provides output to a user device based on the movement.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

Priority is claimed in the application data sheet to the followingpatents or patent applications, the entire written description of eachof which is expressly incorporated herein by reference in its entirety:

Ser. No. 16/391,199

Ser. No. 15/853,746

Ser. No. 15/219,115

Ser. No. 15/193,112

Ser. No. 15/187,787

Ser. No. 15/175,043

62/310,568

Ser. No. 14/846,966

Ser. No. 14/012,879

61/696,068

62/330,602

62/330,642

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Art

The disclosure relates to the field of exercise equipment, and moreparticularly to the field of exercise machines for fitness and health.

Discussion of the State of the Art

Users often interact with fitness devices such as treadmills orelliptical trainers while using a smart device such as their smartphoneor tablet, generally for consuming media. Generally, the interactionswith the fitness device and smart device are separate, with mediaplayback occurring independently of the user's operation of an exercisemachine. For example, while running on a treadmill a user may choose toview a static screen displaying a television show. The elements in atelevision show are static, in that the elements do not change behaviorbased on the user's interactions with the television show, but insteadperform predetermined actions. An example of a dynamic screen is that ofa video game. The user interacts with a remote and influences theactivity of the elements in the video game. At most, the user mayinteract with the screen performing an activity independent of actionsrelated to interacting with the fitness device.

Furthermore, with the rapidly-expanding virtual reality industry, newinteraction methods are being explored including a variety ofcontrollers for gaming, wands, and motion-based input devices includinggloves and camera-based hand tracking. However, these devices all focuson interacting with a user's hands and head movements, and ignore otherparts of the body that could be used to improve interaction andimmersion particularly while a user is within a known definedenvironment such as an exercise machine, while also expanding thepossibilities for data collection.

What is needed, is an exercise machine that is designed to connect to avariety of user smart devices for interaction, that receives directionfrom a connected smart device and provides interaction input to aconnected smart device, and that provides for the use of the human bodyas an input method through position and movement tracking.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, the inventor has conceived and reduced to practice, in apreferred embodiment of the invention, a variable-resistance exercisemachine with network communication for smart device control andinteractive software applications.

According to a preferred embodiment, a variable-resistance exercisemachine with communication for smart device control and interactivesoftware applications is disclosed, comprising: a sensor configured todetect movement of a user of the exercise machine; a plurality of movingsurfaces each configured to provide an independent degree of resistanceto movement in response to the changes from a network interface; anetwork interface configured to communicate with a user device via anetwork, the network interface being configured to: receive input fromthe user device, the input comprising a user interaction received via aninteractive software application operating on the user device; change adegree of resistance of each of a plurality of moving surfaces based onthe input; receive output from the sensor, the output comprising adetected movement of the user of the exercise machine; provide theoutput to the user device.

According to another preferred embodiment, a method for controlling avariable-resistance exercise machine with communication for smart devicecontrol and interactive software applications is disclosed, comprising:receiving input from a user device via a network interface, the inputcomprising at least a user interaction received via an interactivesoftware application operating on the user device; changing, using thenetwork interface, a degree of resistance of each of a plurality ofmoving surfaces of a variable-resistance exercise machine based on theinput, the variable-resistance exercise machine comprising a pluralityof moving surfaces each configured to provide an independent degree ofresistance to movement in response to the changes from the networkinterface; receiving output from a sensor, the output comprising adetected movement of a user of the exercise machine; and providing theoutput to the user device.

According to an aspect of an embodiment, a user device is used to:receive the output from the network interface; and change the operationof the interactive software application in response to the output.

According to an aspect of an embodiment, the interactive softwareapplication is a virtual reality application.

According to an aspect of an embodiment, the interactive softwareapplication is software configured to enable use of the device forphysical therapy.

According to an aspect of an embodiment, the user device is a wearablecomputing device.

According to an aspect of an embodiment, a plurality of steps isconfigured to assist a human user in mounting and dismounting theexercise machine safely.

According to an aspect of an embodiment, a portion of the plurality ofmoving surfaces comprises an integrally-formed textured surfaceconfigured to provide adequate purchase when pressure is applied by aportion of the user's body.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES

The accompanying drawings illustrate several embodiments of theinvention and, together with the description, serve to explain theprinciples of the invention according to the embodiments. It will beappreciated by one skilled in the art that the particular embodimentsillustrated in the drawings are merely exemplary, and are not to beconsidered as limiting of the scope of the invention or the claimsherein in any way.

FIG. 1 is a side view of a variable-resistance exercise machine withnetwork communication for smart device control and interactive softwareapplications, according to a preferred embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a top-down view of a variable-resistance exercise machine withnetwork communication for smart device control and interactive softwareapplications, according to a preferred embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary method for interactingwith a variable-resistance exercise machine with network communicationfor smart device control and interactive software applications using asmart device, illustrating the use of a plurality of connected smartdevices and tethers, and showing interaction via the user's body as acontrol stick.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary hardwarearchitecture of a computing device used in an embodiment of theinvention.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary logical architecturefor a client device, according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing an exemplary architectural arrangementof clients, servers, and external services, according to an embodimentof the invention.

FIG. 7 is another block diagram illustrating an exemplary hardwarearchitecture of a computing device used in various embodiments of theinvention.

FIG. 8 is a diagram of an exemplary hardware arrangement of an apparatusfor natural torso tracking and feedback for electronic interactionaccording to a preferred embodiment of the invention, illustrating theuse of multiple tethers and a movable torso harness.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a variety of alternate tetherarrangements.

FIG. 10 is a diagram of an additional exemplary hardware arrangement ofan apparatus for natural torso tracking and feedback for electronicinteraction according to a preferred embodiment of the invention,illustrating the use of angle sensors to detect angled movement oftethers.

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary hardware arrangement ofan apparatus for natural torso tracking and feedback for electronicinteraction according to a preferred embodiment of the invention,illustrating the use of multiple tethers and a movable torso harnesscomprising a plurality of angle sensors positioned within the movabletorso harness.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The inventor has conceived, and reduced to practice, in a preferredembodiment of the invention, a variable-resistance exercise machine withcommunication for smart device control and interactive softwareapplications.

One or more different inventions may be described in the presentapplication. Further, for one or more of the inventions describedherein, numerous alternative embodiments may be described; it should beappreciated that these are presented for illustrative purposes only andare not limiting of the inventions contained herein or the claimspresented herein in any way. One or more of the inventions may be widelyapplicable to numerous embodiments, as may be readily apparent from thedisclosure. In general, embodiments are described in sufficient detailto enable those skilled in the art to practice one or more of theinventions, and it should be appreciated that other embodiments may beutilized and that structural, logical, software, electrical and otherchanges may be made without departing from the scope of the particularinventions. Accordingly, one skilled in the art will recognize that oneor more of the inventions may be practiced with various modificationsand alterations. Particular features of one or more of the inventionsdescribed herein may be described with reference to one or moreparticular embodiments or figures that form a part of the presentdisclosure, and in which are shown, by way of illustration, specificembodiments of one or more of the inventions. It should be appreciated,however, that such features are not limited to usage in the one or moreparticular embodiments or figures with reference to which they aredescribed. The present disclosure is neither a literal description ofall embodiments of one or more of the inventions nor a listing offeatures of one or more of the inventions that must be present in allembodiments.

Headings of sections provided in this patent application and the titleof this patent application are for convenience only, and are not to betaken as limiting the disclosure in any way.

Devices that are in communication with each other need not be incontinuous communication with each other, unless expressly specifiedotherwise. In addition, devices that are in communication with eachother may communicate directly or indirectly through one or morecommunication means or intermediaries, logical or physical.

A description of an embodiment with several components in communicationwith each other does not imply that all such components are required. Tothe contrary, a variety of optional components may be described toillustrate a wide variety of possible embodiments of one or more of theinventions and in order to more fully illustrate one or more aspects ofthe inventions. Similarly, although process steps, method steps,algorithms or the like may be described in a sequential order, suchprocesses, methods and algorithms may generally be configured to work inalternate orders, unless specifically stated to the contrary. In otherwords, any sequence or order of steps that may be described in thispatent application does not, in and of itself, indicate a requirementthat the steps be performed in that order. The steps of describedprocesses may be performed in any order practical. Further, some stepsmay be performed simultaneously despite being described or implied asoccurring non-simultaneously (e.g., because one step is described afterthe other step). Moreover, the illustration of a process by itsdepiction in a drawing does not imply that the illustrated process isexclusive of other variations and modifications thereto, does not implythat the illustrated process or any of its steps are necessary to one ormore of the invention(s), and does not imply that the illustratedprocess is preferred. Also, steps are generally described once perembodiment, but this does not mean they must occur once, or that theymay only occur once each time a process, method, or algorithm is carriedout or executed. Some steps may be omitted in some embodiments or someoccurrences, or some steps may be executed more than once in a givenembodiment or occurrence.

When a single device or article is described herein, it will be readilyapparent that more than one device or article may be used in place of asingle device or article. Similarly, where more than one device orarticle is described herein, it will be readily apparent that a singledevice or article may be used in place of the more than one device orarticle.

The functionality or the features of a device may be alternativelyembodied by one or more other devices that are not explicitly describedas having such functionality or features. Thus, other embodiments of oneor more of the inventions need not include the device itself.

Techniques and mechanisms described or referenced herein will sometimesbe described in singular form for clarity. However, it should beappreciated that particular embodiments may include multiple iterationsof a technique or multiple instantiations of a mechanism unless notedotherwise. Process descriptions or blocks in figures should beunderstood as representing modules, segments, or portions of code whichinclude one or more executable instructions for implementing specificlogical functions or steps in the process. Alternate implementations areincluded within the scope of embodiments of the present invention inwhich, for example, functions may be executed out of order from thatshown or discussed, including substantially concurrently or in reverseorder, depending on the functionality involved, as would be understoodby those having ordinary skill in the art.

Detailed Description of Exemplary Embodiments

FIG. 1 is a side view of a variable-resistance exercise machine withnetwork communication for smart device control and interactive softwareapplications 100, according to a preferred embodiment of the invention.According to the embodiment, an exercise machine 100 may have a stablebase 101 to provide a platform for a user to safely stand or move aboutupon. Additional safety may be provided through the use of a pluralityof integrally-formed or detachable side rails 102, for example havingsafety rails on the left and right sides (with respect to a user's pointof view) of exercise machine 100 to provide a stable surface for a userto grasp as needed. Additionally, side rails 102 may comprise aplurality of open regions 105 a-n formed to provide additional locationsfor a user to grasp or for the attachment of additional equipment suchas a user's smart device (not shown) through the use of a mountable orclamping case or mount. Formed or removable supports 106 a-n may be usedfor additional grip or mounting locations, for example to affix aplurality of tethers (not shown) for use in interaction with softwareapplications while a user is using exercise machine 100 (as describedbelow, referring to FIG. 3 ).

Exercise machine 100 may further comprise a rigid handlebar 103 affixedor integrally-formed on one end of exercise machine 100, for a user tohold onto while facing forward during use. Handlebar 103 may furthercomprise a stand or mount 104 for a user's smart device such as (forexample) a smartphone or tablet computer, so they may safely support andstow the device during use while keeping it readily accessible forinteraction (for example, to configure or interact with a softwareapplication they are using, or to select different applications, or tocontrol media playback during use, or other various uses). Handlebar 103may be used to provide a stable handle for a user to hold onto duringuse for safety or stability, as well as providing a rigid point for theuser to “push off” during use as needed, for example to begin using amoving treadmill surface (described below in FIG. 2 ). During use, auser may also face away from handlebar 103, using exercise machine 100in the reverse without their view or range of motion being obscured orobstructed by handlebar 103 (for example, for use with a virtual realitygame that requires a wide degree of movement from the user's hands forinteraction).

As illustrated, the base 101 of exercise machine 100 may be formed witha mild, symmetrical curvature, to better approximate the natural rangeof movement of a user's body during use. Common exercise machines suchas treadmills generally employ a flat surface, which can beuncomfortably during prolonged or vigorous use, and may causecomplications with multi-directional movement or interaction while auser's view is obscured, as with a headset (described below in FIG. 3 ).By incorporating a gradual curvature, a user's movements may feel morenatural and require less reorientation or accommodation to become fluidand proficient, and stress to the body may be reduced.

FIG. 2 is a top-down view of a variable-resistance exercise machine 100with network communication for smart device control and interactivesoftware applications, according to a preferred embodiment of theinvention. According to the embodiment, exercise machine 100 maycomprise a stable base 101 to provide a platform for a user to safelystand or move about upon. Exercise machine 100 may further compriseright 201 a and left 201 b hand rails for a user to brace against orgrip during use, to provide a stable support for safety as well as amounting point for external devices such as a plurality of tethers, asdescribed below with reference to FIG. 3 . A plurality of steps 202 a-nmay be used to provide a user with a safe and easy means to approach ordismount exercise machine 100, as well as a nonmoving “staging area”where a user may stand while they configure operation or wait forexercise machine 100 to start operation. Unlike traditional treadmillmachines common in the art, exercise machine 100 may be made withgreater width to accommodate a wider range of free movement of a user'sentire body (whereas traditional treadmills are designed to bestaccommodate only a jogging or running posture, with minimal lateralmotion), and a plurality of separate moving surfaces 203 a-b may beutilized to provide multiple separate surfaces that may move and becontrolled independently of one another during use. For example, a usermay move each of their legs independently without resistance applied,with separate moving surfaces 203 a-b moving freely underfoot as a userapplies pressure during their movement. This may provide the illusion ofmovement to a user while in reality they remain stationary with respectto their surroundings. Another use may be multiple separate movingsurfaces 203 a-b, with separate speeds of movement or degrees ofresistance, so that as a user moves about during use they may experiencephysical feedback in the form of changing speed or resistance,indicating where they are standing or in what direction they are moving(for example, to orient a user wearing a virtual reality headset, asdescribed below with reference to FIG. 3 ). Moving surfaces 203 a-b maybe formed with a texture 204 to increase traction, which may improveuser safety and stability during use as well as improve the operation ofmoving surfaces 203 a-b for use in multidirectional movement (as theuser's foot is less likely to slide across a surface rather than takingpurchase and applying directional pressure to produce movement). Use ofmultiple, multidirectional moving surfaces 203 a-b may also be used invarious therapeutic or rehabilitation roles, for example to aid a userin developing balance or range of motion. For example, a user who isrecovering from an injury or surgery (such as a joint repair orreplacement surgery) may require regular physical therapy duringrecovery. Use of multidirectional moving surfaces 203 a-b along withappropriate guidance from a rehabilitation specialist or physicaltherapist (or optionally a virtual or remote coach using a softwareapplication) may make regular therapy more convenient and accessible tothe user, rather than requiring in-home care or regular visits to aclinic. For example, by enabling a therapist or coach to manually varythe movement and resistance of the moving surfaces 203 a-b, they canexamine a user's ability to overcome resistance to different movementssuch as at odd angles or across varying range of motion, to examine theuser's physical health or ability. By further varying the resistance itbecomes possible to assist the user with rehabilitation by providingtargeted resistance training to specific movements, positions, or musclegroups to assist in recovery and development of the user's abilities.

Exercise machine 100 may be designed without a control interfacecommonly utilized by exercise machines in the art, instead beingconfigured with any of a variety of network network interfaces such asWiFi or BLUETOOTH™ for connection to a user's smart device, such as asmartphone or tablet computer. When connected, a user may use a softwareapplication on their device to configure or direct the operation ofexercise machine 100, for example by manually configuring a variety ofoperation settings such as speed or resistance, or by interacting with asoftware application that automatically directs the operation ofexercise machine 100 without exposing the particular details ofoperation to a user. Additionally, communication may be bi-directional,with a smart device directing the operation of exercise machine 100 andwith exercise machine 100 providing input to a smart device based atleast in part on a user's activity or interaction. For example, a usermay interact with a game on their smart device, which directs theoperation of exercise machine 100 during play as a form of interactionwith, and feedback to, the user. For example, in a racing game, exercisemachine 100 may alter the resistance of moving surfaces 203 a-b as auser's speed changes within the game. In another example, a user may bemoving about on moving surfaces 203 a-b while playing a simulation orroleplaying game, and their movement may be provided to the connectedsmart device for use in controlling an in-game character's movement.Another example may be two-way interactive media control, wherein a usermay select media such as music for listening on their smart device, andthen while using exercise machine 100 their level of exertion (forexample, the speed at which they run or jog) may be used to provideinput to their smart device for controlling the playback of media. Forexample, if the user slows down music may be played slowly, distortingthe audio unless the user increases their pace. In this manner, exercisemachine 100 may be used interchangeably as a control and feedback deviceor both simultaneously, providing an immersive environment for a widevariety of software applications such as virtual reality, video games,fitness and health applications, or interactive media consumption.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary method for interactingwith a variable-resistance exercise machine 100 with networkcommunication for smart device control and interactive softwareapplications using a smart device, illustrating the use of a pluralityof connected smart devices and tethers, and showing interaction via theuser's body as a control stick (referencing 9407?). According to theembodiment, a user 301 may be standing, walking, or running on avariable-resistance exercise machine 100 with network communication forsmart device control and virtual reality applications with a stable base101 and two separate moveable surfaces 203 a, 203 b for separatemovement of the user's legs. Exercise machine 100 may have fixedhandlebars with affixed or integrally-formed controllers 305 a, 305 bfor use as connected smart devices for interaction, and support rails201 a, 201 b for a user to hold onto or affix tethers for safety orinteraction when needed. User 401 may interact with softwareapplications using a variety of means, including manual interaction viacontroller devices 305 a, 305 b that may be held in the hand for exampleto use as motion-input control devices (such as GOJI PLAY™ controllers,for example—which were disclosed in parent application Ser. No.14/012,879) or (as illustrated) may be affixed or integrally-formed intoexercise machine 100. This may provide a user with traditional means ofinteracting with software applications while using exercise machine 100.Additionally, a user's body position or movement may be tracked and usedas input, for example via a plurality of tethers 304 a-n affixed tohandlebars 201 a, 201 b and a belt, harness or saddle 303 worn by user301, or using a headset device 302 that may track the position ormovement of a user's head as well as provide video (and optionallyaudio) output to the user, such as a virtual reality headset thatdisplays images while blocking the user's view of the outside world, oran augmented reality or mixed reality headset that combines presentedinformation with the user's view using transparent or semitransparentdisplays (for example, using transparent OLED displays, hologramdisplays, projected displays, or other various forms of overlaying adisplay within a user's normal field of vision without obstructing theuser's view). Body tracking may be used to recognize additional inputdata from user 301 (in addition to manual input via controllers 305 a,305 b), by tracking the position and movement of user 301 during use.For example, motion tracking within a headset device 302 may be used torecognize a variety of translational 310 or rotational 320 movement ofuser's 301 head, such as leaning to the side, or looking over theshoulder. Tethers 304 a-n may recognize a variety of movement of user's301 torso, such as leaning, crouching, sidestepping, or other bodymovement. This body tracking may then be utilized either as feedback torehab programs (for example, to track a user's posture for physicaltherapy coaching or exercises such as holding yoga poses) or inputsimilar to a control stick or joystick in manual controllerarrangements, for example by interpreting the user's entire body as the“stick” and processing their body movements as if they were stickmovements done manually (such as to control in-game character posture ormovement, or to direct movement in certain applications such as vehiclesimulations that may turn or accelerate in response to stick movements).

For example, a user 301 on exercise machine 100 may be playing a virtualreality skiing game or rehab program wherein they are given audio andvideo output via a headset 302 to immerse them in a virtual ski resort.When user 301 is not skiing, they may be able to use manual controls 305a, 305 b for such operations as selecting from an on-screen menu, ortyping text input such as to input their name or to chat with otherplayers using text. When they begin skiing within the game, user 301 maybe instructed in proper ski posture or technique, and may then use theirbody to control various aspects of their virtual skiing, such as leaningto the side 320 to alter their course and avoid trees or other skiers,or jumping 310 to clear rocks or gaps. Movement of their head may bedetected by a headset 302 and used to control their view independentlyof their body as it is tracked by tethers 304 a-n, allowing user 301 tolook around freely without interfering with their other controls. Inthis manner, the user's entire body may serve as an input control devicefor the game, allowing and encouraging them to use natural bodymovements to control their gameplay in an immersive manner while stillretaining the option to use more familiar manual control means asneeded. Alternatively, specific body functions such as hip twisting areused as user feedback for rehabilitating programs, including rehabgames.

FIG. 8 is a diagram of an exemplary hardware arrangement 800 for naturaltorso tracking and feedback for electronic interaction according to apreferred embodiment of the invention, illustrating the use of multipletethers 810 a-n and a movable torso harness 820. According to theembodiment, a plurality of tethers 810 a-n may be affixed orintegrally-formed as part of a handle or railing 830, such as handlebarsfound on exercise equipment such as a treadmill, elliptical trainer,stair-climbing machine, or the like. In alternate arrangements,specifically-designed equipment with integral tethers 810 a-n may beused, but it may be appreciated that a modular design with tethers 810a-n that may be affixed and removed freely may be desirable forfacilitating use with a variety of fitness equipment or structuralelements of a building, according to a user's particular use case orcircumstance. Tethers 810 a-n may then be affixed or integrally-formedto a torso harness 820, as illustrated in the form of a belt, that maybe worn by a user such that movement of their body affects tethers 810a-n and applies stress to them in a variety of manners. It should beappreciated that while a belt design for a torso harness 820 is shownfor clarity, a variety of physical arrangements may be used such asincluding (but not limited to) a vest, a series of harness-like strapssimilar to climbing or rappelling equipment, a backpack, straps designedto be worn on a user's body underneath or in place of clothing (forexample, for use in medical settings for collecting precise data) or aplurality of specially-formed clips or attachment points that may bereadily affixed to a user's clothing. Additionally, a torso harness 820may be constructed with movable parts, for example having an inner belt821 that permits a user some degree of motion within the harness 820without restricting their movement. Movement of inner belt 821 (or othermovable portions) may be measured in a variety of ways, such as usingaccelerometers, gyroscopes, or optical sensors, and this data may beused as interaction with software applications in addition to datacollected from tethers 810 a-n as described below. In some embodiments,a saddle-like surface on which a user may sit may be used, with motionof the saddle-like surface measured as described generally herein.

As a user moves, his or her body naturally shifts position andorientation. These shifts may be detected and measured via tethers 810a-n, for example by detecting patterns of tension or strain on tethers810 a-n to indicate body orientation, or by measuring small changes instrain on tethers 810 a-n to determine more precise movements such asbody posture while a user is speaking, or specific characteristics of auser's stride or gait. Additionally, through varying the quantity andarrangement of tethers 810 a-n, more precise or specialized forms ofmovement may be detected and measured (such as, for example, using aspecific arrangement of multiple tethers connected to a particular areaof a user's body to detect extremely small movements for medicaldiagnosis or fitness coaching). This data may be used as interactionwith software applications, such as for virtual reality applications asinput for a user to control a character in a game. In such anarrangement, when a user moves, this movement may be translated to anin-game character or avatar to convey a more natural sense ofinteraction and presence. For example, in a multiplayer roleplayinggame, this may be used to facilitate nonverbal communication andrecognition between players, as their distinct mannerisms and gesturesmay be conveyed in the game through detection of natural torso positionand movement. In fitness or health applications, this data may be usedto track and monitor a user's posture or ergonomic qualities, or toassist in coaching them for specific fitness activities such as holdinga pose for yoga, stretching, or proper running form during use with atreadmill. In medical applications, this data may be used to assist indiagnosing injuries or deficiencies that may require attention, such asby detecting anomalies in movement or physiological adaptations to anunrecognized injury (such as when a user subconsciously shifts theirweight off an injured foot or knee, without consciously realizing anissue is present).

Through various arrangements of tethers 810 a-n and tether sensors (asdescribed below, referring to FIGS. 9-11 ), it may be possible to enablea variety of immersive ways for a user to interact with softwareapplications, as well as to receive haptic feedback from applications.For example, by detecting rotation, tension, stress, or angle of tethersa user may interact with applications such as virtual reality games orsimulations, by using natural body movements and positioning such asleaning, jumping, crouching, kneeling, turning, or shifting their weightin various directions to trigger actions within a software applicationconfigured to accept torso tracking input. By applying haptic feedbackof varying form and intensity (as is described in greater detail below,referring to FIG. 9 ), applications may provide physical indication to auser of software events, such as applying tension to resist movement,pulling or tugging on a tether to move or “jerk” a user in a direction,or varying feedback to multiple tethers such as tugging and releasing invarying order or sequence to simulate more complex effects such as (forexample, in a gaming use case) explosions, riding in a vehicle, orwalking through foliage.

It should be appreciated that while reference is made to virtual realityapplications, a wide variety of use cases may be possible according tothe embodiment. For example, torso tracking may be used for fitness andhealth applications, to monitor a user's posture or gait while walking,without the use of additional virtual reality equipment or software.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a variety of alternate tetherarrangements. According to various use cases and hardware arrangements,tethers 810 a-n may utilize a variety of purpose-driven designs asillustrated. For example, a “stretchable” tether 910 may be used tomeasure strain during a user's movement, as the tether 910 is stretchedor compressed (for example, using piezoelectric materials and measuringelectrical changes). Such an arrangement may be suitable for precisemeasurements, but may lack the mechanical strength or durability forgross movement detection or prolonged use. An alternate construction mayutilize a non-deforming tether 920 such as a steel cable or similarnon-stretching material. Instead of measuring strain on the tether 920,instead tether 920 may be permitted a degree of movement within anenclosure 922 (for example, an attachment point on a torso harness 820or handlebar 830), and the position or movement 921 of the tether 920may be measured such as via optical sensors. In a third exemplaryarrangement, a tether 930 may be wound about an axle or pulley 931, andmay be let out when force is applied during a user's movement. Rotationof the pulley 931 may be measured, or alternately a tension device suchas a coil spring may be utilized (not shown) and the tension or strainon that device may be measured as tether 930 is extended or retracted.In this manner, it may be appreciated that a variety of mechanical meansmay be used to facilitate tethers and attachments for use in detectingand measuring natural torso position and movement, and it should beappreciated that a variety of additional or alternate hardwarearrangements may be utilized according to the embodiments disclosedherein.

Additionally, through the use of various hardware construction itbecomes possible to utilize both “passive” tethers that merely measuremovement or strain, as well as “active” tethers that may applyresistance or movement to provide haptic feedback to a user. Forexample, in an arrangement utilizing a coiled spring or pulley 931, thespring or pulley 931 may be wound to retract a tether and direct orimpede a user's movement as desired. In this manner, various new formsof feedback-based interaction become possible, and in virtual realityuse cases user engagement and immersion are increased through morenatural physical feedback during their interaction.

By applying various forms and intensities of feedback using varioustether arrangements, a variety of feedback types may be used to providehaptic output to a user in response to software events. For example,tension on a tether may be used to simulate restrained movement such aswading through water or dense foliage, walking up an inclined surface,magnetic or gravitational forces, or other forms of physical resistanceor impedance that may be simulated through directional ornon-directional tension. Tugging, retracting, or pulling on a tether maybe used to simulate sudden forces such as recoil from gunfire,explosions, being grabbed or struck by a software entity such as anobject or character, deploying a parachute, bungee jumping, sliding orfalling, or other momentary forces or events that may be conveyed with atugging or pulling sensation. By utilizing various patterns of hapticfeedback, more complex events may be communicated to a user, such asriding on horseback or in a vehicle, standing on the deck of a ship atsea, turbulence in an aircraft, weather, or other virtual events thatmay be represented using haptic feedback. In this manner, virtualenvironments and events may be made more immersive and tangible for auser, both by enabling a user to interact using natural body movementsand positioning, as well as by providing haptic feedback in a mannerthat feels natural and expected to the user. For example, if a user iscontrolling a character in a gaming application through a first-personviewpoint, it would seem natural that when their character is struckthere would be a physical sensation corresponding to the event; however,this is not possible with traditional interaction devices, detractingfrom any sense of immersion or realism for the user. By providing thisphysical sensation alongside the virtual event, the experience becomesmore engaging and users are encouraged to interact more naturally astheir actions results in natural and believable feedback, meeting theirsubconscious expectations and avoiding excessive “immersion-breaking”moments, which in turn reduces the likelihood of users adopting unusualbehaviors or unhealthy posture as a result of adapting to limitedinteraction schema.

Haptic feedback may be provided to notify a user of non-gaming events,such as for desktop notifications for email or application updates, orto provide feedback on their posture for use in fitness or healthcoaching. For example, a user may be encouraged to maintain a particularstance, pose, or posture while working or for a set length of time (forexample, for a yoga exercise application), and if their posture deviatesfrom an acceptable range, feedback is provided to remind them to adjusttheir posture. This may be used in sports, fitness, health, or ergonomicapplications that need not utilize other aspects of virtual reality andmay operate as traditional software applications on nonspecializedcomputing hardware. For example, a user at their desk may use anergonomic training application that monitors their body posturethroughout the work day and provides haptic reminders to correct poorposture as it is detected, helping the user to maintain a healthyworking posture to reduce fatigue or injuries due to poor posture (forexample, repetitive-stress injuries that may be linked to poor posturewhile working at a computer).

FIG. 10 is a diagram of an additional exemplary hardware arrangement1000 for natural torso tracking and feedback for electronic interactionaccording to a preferred embodiment of the invention, illustrating theuse of angle sensors 1012, 1021 a-n to detect angled movement of atether 1020. According to one exemplary arrangement, a tether 1010 maybe affixed to or passed through a rotating joint such as a ball bearing1011 or similar, to permit free angular movement. During movement, theangular movement or deflection 1012 of a protruding bar, rod, or tethersegment 1013 may be measured (for example, using optical, magnetic, orother sensors) to determine the corresponding angle of tether 1010. Inthis manner, precise angle measurements may be collected withoutimpeding range of motion or introducing unnecessary mechanicalcomplexity.

In an alternate hardware arrangement, the use of angle sensors 1021 a-nenables tracking of a vertical angle of a tether 1020, to detect andoptionally measure vertical movement or orientation of a user's torso.When tether 1020 contacts a sensor 1021 a-n, this may be registered andused to detect a general vertical movement (that is, whether the tetheris angled up or down). For more precise measurements, the specifichardware construction of a sensor 1021 a-n may be varied, for exampleusing a pressure-sensing switch to detect how much force is applied anduse this measurement to determine the corresponding angle (as may bepossible given a tether 1020 of known construction). It should beappreciated that various combinations of hardware may be used to providea desired method or degree of angle detection or measurement, forexample using a conductive tether 1020 and a capacitive sensor 1021 a-nto detect contact, or using a mechanical or rubber-dome switch (as arecommonly used in keyboard construction) to detect physical contactwithout a conductive tether 1020.

The use of angle detection or measurement may expand interactionpossibilities to encompass more detailed and natural movements of auser's body. For example, if a user crouches, then all tethers 910 a-nmay detect a downward angle simultaneously. Additionally, data precisionor availability may be enhanced by combining input from multipleavailable sensors when possible (for example, utilizing adaptivesoftware to collect data from any sensors that it detects, withoutrequiring specific sensor types for operation), for example by combiningdata from tethers 910 a-n and hardware sensors such as an accelerometeror gyroscope, enabling multiple methods of achieving similar or variedtypes or precision levels of position or movement detection. Similarly,when a user jumps then all tethers may detect an upward anglesimultaneously. However, if a user leans in one direction, it may beappreciated that not all tethers 910 a-n will detect the same angle. Forexample, tethers 910 a-n in the direction the user is leaning may detecta downward angle, while those on the opposite side would detect anupward angle (due to the orientation of the user's torso and thus a worntorso harness 920). In this manner, more precise torso interaction maybe facilitated through improved detection and recognition of orientationand movement. Additionally, it may be appreciated that sensors 1021 a-nmay be utilized for other angle measurements, such as to detecthorizontal angle. For example, if a user is wearing a non-rotating torsoharness 920, when they twist their body a similar stress may be appliedto all attached tethers 910 a-n. Without angle detection the precisenature of this movement will be vague, but with horizontal angledetection it becomes possible to recognize that all tethers 910 a-n arebeing strained in a similar direction (for example, in a clockwisepattern when viewed from above, as a user might view tethers 910 a-nduring use), and therefore interpret the interaction as a twistingmotion (rather than, for example, a user squatting or kneeling, whichmight apply a similar stress to the tethers 910 a-n but would havedifferent angle measurements).

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary hardware arrangement ofan apparatus for natural torso tracking and feedback for electronicinteraction according to a preferred embodiment of the invention,illustrating the use of multiple tethers 810 a-n and a movable torsoharness 820 comprising a plurality of angle sensors 1101 a-n positionedwithin the movable torso harness 820. According to the embodiment, aplurality of tethers 810 a-n may be affixed or integrally-formed as partof a handle or railing 830, such as handlebars found on exerciseequipment such as a treadmill, elliptical trainer, stair-climbingmachine, or the like. In alternate arrangements, specifically-designedequipment with affixed or integral tethers 810 a-n may be used, but itmay be appreciated that a modular design with tethers 810 a-n that maybe affixed and removed freely may be desirable for facilitating use witha variety of fitness equipment or structural elements of a building,according to a user's particular use case or circumstance as well asweight-holding strength of the tethers. Tethers 810 a-n may then beaffixed or integrally-formed to angle sensors 1101 a-n placed within orintegrally-formed as a component of torso harness 820 (as illustrated inthe form of a belt) that may be worn by a user such that movement oftheir body affects tethers 810 a-n and applies detectable or measurablestress to tethers 810 a-n and angular motion to angle sensors 1101 a-n.In this manner, it may be appreciated that angle sensors 1101 a-n may beutilized as integral or removable components of a torso harness 820, asan alternative arrangement to utilizing angle sensors 1101 a-n placed orformed within railings 830 or other equipment components connected todistal ends of tethers 810 a-n (with respect to the user's torso).According to various embodiments, sensors may be placed optionally on abelt, harness, or saddle-like surface or at attachment points on safetyrailings, or indeed both.

Hardware Architecture

Generally, the techniques disclosed herein may be implemented onhardware or a combination of software and hardware. For example, theymay be implemented in an operating system kernel, in a separate userprocess, in a library package bound into network applications, on aspecially constructed machine, on an application-specific integratedcircuit (ASIC), or on a network interface card.

Software/hardware hybrid implementations of at least some of theembodiments disclosed herein may be implemented on a programmablenetwork-resident machine (which should be understood to includeintermittently connected network-aware machines) selectively activatedor reconfigured by a computer program stored in memory. Such networkdevices may have multiple network interfaces that may be configured ordesigned to utilize different types of network communication protocols.A general architecture for some of these machines may be describedherein in order to illustrate one or more exemplary means by which agiven unit of functionality may be implemented. According to specificembodiments, at least some of the features or functionalities of thevarious embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented on one or moregeneral-purpose computers associated with one or more networks, such asfor example an end-user computer system, a client computer, a networkserver or other server system, a mobile computing device (e.g., tabletcomputing device, mobile phone, smartphone, laptop, or other appropriatecomputing device), a consumer electronic device, a music player, or anyother suitable electronic device, router, switch, or other suitabledevice, or any combination thereof. In at least some embodiments, atleast some of the features or functionalities of the various embodimentsdisclosed herein may be implemented in one or more virtualized computingenvironments (e.g., network computing clouds, virtual machines hosted onone or more physical computing machines, or other appropriate virtualenvironments).

Referring now to FIG. 4 , there is shown a block diagram depicting anexemplary computing device 10 suitable for implementing at least aportion of the features or functionalities disclosed herein. Computingdevice 10 may be, for example, any one of the computing machines listedin the previous paragraph, or indeed any other electronic device capableof executing software- or hardware-based instructions according to oneor more programs stored in memory. Computing device 10 may be configuredto communicate with a plurality of other computing devices, such asclients or servers, over communications networks such as a wide areanetwork a metropolitan area network, a local area network, a wirelessnetwork, the Internet, or any other network, using known protocols forsuch communication, whether wireless or wired.

In one embodiment, computing device 10 includes one or more centralprocessing units (CPU) 12, one or more interfaces 15, and one or morebusses 14 (such as a peripheral component interconnect (PCI) bus). Whenacting under the control of appropriate software or firmware, CPU 12 maybe responsible for implementing specific functions associated with thefunctions of a specifically configured computing device or machine. Forexample, in at least one embodiment, a computing device 10 may beconfigured or designed to function as a server system utilizing CPU 12,local memory 11 and/or remote memory 16, and interface(s) 15. In atleast one embodiment, CPU 12 may be caused to perform one or more of thedifferent types of functions and/or operations under the control ofsoftware modules or components, which for example, may include anoperating system and any appropriate applications software, drivers, andthe like.

CPU 12 may include one or more processors 13 such as, for example, aprocessor from one of the Intel, ARM, Qualcomm, and AMD families ofmicroprocessors. In some embodiments, processors 13 may includespecially designed hardware such as application-specific integratedcircuits (ASICs), electrically erasable programmable read-only memories(EEPROMs), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), and so forth, forcontrolling operations of computing device 10. In a specific embodiment,a local memory 11 (such as non-volatile random access memory (RAM)and/or read-only memory (ROM), including for example one or more levelsof cached memory) may also form part of CPU 12. However, there are manydifferent ways in which memory may be coupled to system 10. Memory 11may be used for a variety of purposes such as, for example, cachingand/or storing data, programming instructions, and the like. It shouldbe further appreciated that CPU 12 may be one of a variety ofsystem-on-a-chip (SOC) type hardware that may include additionalhardware such as memory or graphics processing chips, such as a QUALCOMMSNAPDRAGON™ or SAMSUNG EXYNOS™ CPU as are becoming increasingly commonin the art, such as for use in mobile devices or integrated devices.

As used herein, the term “processor” is not limited merely to thoseintegrated circuits referred to in the art as a processor, a mobileprocessor, or a microprocessor, but broadly refers to a microcontroller,a microcomputer, a programmable logic controller, anapplication-specific integrated circuit, and any other programmablecircuit.

In one embodiment, interfaces 15 are provided as network interface cards(NICs). Generally, NICs control the sending and receiving of datapackets over a computer network; other types of interfaces 15 may forexample support other peripherals used with computing device 10. Amongthe interfaces that may be provided are Ethernet interfaces, frame relayinterfaces, cable interfaces, DSL interfaces, token ring interfaces,graphics interfaces, and the like. In addition, various types ofinterfaces may be provided such as, for example, universal serial bus(USB), Serial, Ethernet, FIREWIRE™, THUNDERBOLT™, PCI, parallel, radiofrequency (RF), BLUETOOTH™, near-field communications (e.g., usingnear-field magnetics), 802.11 (WiFi), frame relay, TCP/IP, ISDN, fastEthernet interfaces, Gigabit Ethernet interfaces, Serial ATA (SATA) orexternal SATA (ESATA) interfaces, high-definition multimedia interface(HDMI), digital visual interface (DVI), analog or digital audiointerfaces, asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) interfaces, high-speedserial interface (HSSI) interfaces, Point of Sale (POS) interfaces,fiber data distributed interfaces (FDDIs), and the like. Generally, suchinterfaces 15 may include physical ports appropriate for communicationwith appropriate media. In some cases, they may also include anindependent processor (such as a dedicated audio or video processor, asis common in the art for high-fidelity A/V hardware interfaces) and, insome instances, volatile and/or non-volatile memory (e.g., RAM).

Although the system shown in FIG. 4 illustrates one specificarchitecture for a computing device 10 for implementing one or more ofthe inventions described herein, it is by no means the only devicearchitecture on which at least a portion of the features and techniquesdescribed herein may be implemented. For example, architectures havingone or any number of processors 13 may be used, and such processors 13may be present in a single device or distributed among any number ofdevices. In one embodiment, a single processor 13 handles communicationsas well as routing computations, while in other embodiments a separatededicated communications processor may be provided. In variousembodiments, different types of features or functionalities may beimplemented in a system according to the invention that includes aclient device (such as a tablet device or smartphone running clientsoftware) and server systems (such as a server system described in moredetail below).

Regardless of network device configuration, the system of the presentinvention may employ one or more memories or memory modules (such as,for example, remote memory block 16 and local memory 11) configured tostore data, program instructions for the general-purpose networkoperations, or other information relating to the functionality of theembodiments described herein (or any combinations of the above). Programinstructions may control execution of or comprise an operating systemand/or one or more applications, for example. Memory 16 or memories 11,16 may also be configured to store data structures, configuration data,encryption data, historical system operations information, or any otherspecific or generic non-program information described herein.

Because such information and program instructions may be employed toimplement one or more systems or methods described herein, at least somenetwork device embodiments may include nontransitory machine-readablestorage media, which, for example, may be configured or designed tostore program instructions, state information, and the like forperforming various operations described herein. Examples of suchnontransitory machine-readable storage media include, but are notlimited to, magnetic media such as hard disks, floppy disks, andmagnetic tape; optical media such as CD-ROM disks; magneto-optical mediasuch as optical disks, and hardware devices that are speciallyconfigured to store and perform program instructions, such as read-onlymemory devices (ROM), flash memory (as is common in mobile devices andintegrated systems), solid state drives (SSD) and “hybrid SSD” storagedrives that may combine physical components of solid state and hard diskdrives in a single hardware device (as are becoming increasingly commonin the art with regard to personal computers), memristor memory, randomaccess memory (RAM), and the like. It should be appreciated that suchstorage means may be integral and non-removable (such as RAM hardwaremodules that may be soldered onto a motherboard or otherwise integratedinto an electronic device), or they may be removable such as swappableflash memory modules (such as “thumb drives” or other removable mediadesigned for rapidly exchanging physical storage devices),“hot-swappable” hard disk drives or solid state drives, removableoptical storage discs, or other such removable media, and that suchintegral and removable storage media may be utilized interchangeably.Examples of program instructions include both object code, such as maybe produced by a compiler, machine code, such as may be produced by anassembler or a linker, byte code, such as may be generated by forexample a JAVA™ compiler and may be executed using a Java virtualmachine or equivalent, or files containing higher level code that may beexecuted by the computer using an interpreter (for example, scriptswritten in Python, Perl, Ruby, Groovy, or any other scripting language).

In some embodiments, systems according to the present invention may beimplemented on a standalone computing system. Referring now to FIG. 5 ,there is shown a block diagram depicting a typical exemplaryarchitecture of one or more embodiments or components thereof on astandalone computing system. Computing device 20 includes processors 21that may run software that carry out one or more functions orapplications of embodiments of the invention, such as for example aclient application 24. Processors 21 may carry out computinginstructions under control of an operating system 22 such as, forexample, a version of MICROSOFT WINDOWS™ operating system, APPLE MACOS™or iOS™ operating systems, some variety of the Linux operating system,ANDROID™ operating system, or the like. In many cases, one or moreshared services 23 may be operable in system 20, and may be useful forproviding common services to client applications 24. Services 23 may forexample be WINDOWS™ services, user-space common services in a Linuxenvironment, or any other type of common service architecture used withoperating system 21. Input devices 28 may be of any type suitable forreceiving user input, including for example a keyboard, touchscreen,microphone (for example, for voice input), mouse, touchpad, trackball,or any combination thereof. Output devices 27 may be of any typesuitable for providing output to one or more users, whether remote orlocal to system 20, and may include for example one or more screens forvisual output, speakers, printers, or any combination thereof. Memory 25may be random-access memory having any structure and architecture knownin the art, for use by processors 21, for example to run software.Storage devices 26 may be any magnetic, optical, mechanical, memristor,or electrical storage device for storage of data in digital form (suchas those described above, referring to FIG. 4 ). Examples of storagedevices 26 include flash memory, magnetic hard drive, CD-ROM, and/or thelike.

In some embodiments, systems of the present invention may be implementedon a distributed computing network, such as one having any number ofclients and/or servers. Referring now to FIG. 6 , there is shown a blockdiagram depicting an exemplary architecture 30 for implementing at leasta portion of a system according to an embodiment of the invention on adistributed computing network. According to the embodiment, any numberof clients 33 may be provided. Each client 33 may run software forimplementing client-side portions of the present invention; clients maycomprise a system 20 such as that illustrated in FIG. 5 . In addition,any number of servers 32 may be provided for handling requests receivedfrom one or more clients 33. Clients 33 and servers 32 may communicatewith one another via one or more electronic networks 31, which may be invarious embodiments any of the Internet, a wide area network, a mobiletelephony network (such as CDMA or GSM cellular networks), a wirelessnetwork (such as WiFi, WiMAX, LTE, and so forth), or a local areanetwork (or indeed any network topology known in the art; the inventiondoes not prefer any one network topology over any other). Networks 31may be implemented using any known network protocols, including forexample wired and/or wireless protocols.

In addition, in some embodiments, servers 32 may call external services37 when needed to obtain additional information, or to refer toadditional data concerning a particular call. Communications withexternal services 37 may take place, for example, via one or morenetworks 31. In various embodiments, external services 37 may compriseweb-enabled services or functionality related to or installed on thehardware device itself. For example, in an embodiment where clientapplications 24 are implemented on a smartphone or other electronicdevice, client applications 24 may obtain information stored in a serversystem 32 in the cloud or on an external service 37 deployed on one ormore of a particular enterprise's or user's premises.

In some embodiments of the invention, clients 33 or servers 32 (or both)may make use of one or more specialized services or appliances that maybe deployed locally or remotely across one or more networks 31. Forexample, one or more databases 34 may be used or referred to by one ormore embodiments of the invention. It should be understood by one havingordinary skill in the art that databases 34 may be arranged in a widevariety of architectures and using a wide variety of data access andmanipulation means. For example, in various embodiments one or moredatabases 34 may comprise a relational database system using astructured query language (SQL), while others may comprise analternative data storage technology such as those referred to in the artas “NoSQL” (for example, HADOOP CASSANDRA™, GOOGLE BIGTABLE™, and soforth). In some embodiments, variant database architectures such ascolumn-oriented databases, in-memory databases, clustered databases,distributed databases, or even flat file data repositories may be usedaccording to the invention. It will be appreciated by one havingordinary skill in the art that any combination of known or futuredatabase technologies may be used as appropriate, unless a specificdatabase technology or a specific arrangement of components is specifiedfor a particular embodiment herein. Moreover, it should be appreciatedthat the term “database” as used herein may refer to a physical databasemachine, a cluster of machines acting as a single database system, or alogical database within an overall database management system. Unless aspecific meaning is specified for a given use of the term “database”, itshould be construed to mean any of these senses of the word, all ofwhich are understood as a plain meaning of the term “database” by thosehaving ordinary skill in the art.

Similarly, most embodiments of the invention may make use of one or moresecurity systems 36 and configuration systems 35. Security andconfiguration management are common information technology (IT) and webfunctions, and some amount of each are generally associated with any ITor web systems. It should be understood by one having ordinary skill inthe art that any configuration or security subsystems known in the artnow or in the future may be used in conjunction with embodiments of theinvention without limitation, unless a specific security 36 orconfiguration system 35 or approach is specifically required by thedescription of any specific embodiment.

FIG. 7 shows an exemplary overview of a computer system 40 as may beused in any of the various locations throughout the system. It isexemplary of any computer that may execute code to process data. Variousmodifications and changes may be made to computer system 40 withoutdeparting from the broader scope of the system and method disclosedherein. Central processor unit (CPU) 41 is connected to bus 42, to whichbus is also connected memory 43, nonvolatile memory 44, display 47,input/output (I/O) unit 48, and network interface card (NIC) 53. I/Ounit 48 may, typically, be connected to keyboard 49, pointing device 50,hard disk 52, and real-time clock 51. NIC 53 connects to network 54,which may be the Internet or a local network, which local network may ormay not have connections to the Internet. Also shown as part of system40 is power supply unit 45 connected, in this example, to a mainalternating current (AC) supply 46. Not shown are batteries that couldbe present, and many other devices and modifications that are well knownbut are not applicable to the specific novel functions of the currentsystem and method disclosed herein. It should be appreciated that someor all components illustrated may be combined, such as in variousintegrated applications, for example Qualcomm or Samsungsystem-on-a-chip (SOC) devices, or whenever it may be appropriate tocombine multiple capabilities or functions into a single hardware device(for instance, in mobile devices such as smartphones, video gameconsoles, in-vehicle computer systems such as navigation or multimediasystems in automobiles, or other integrated hardware devices).

In various embodiments, functionality for implementing systems ormethods of the present invention may be distributed among any number ofclient and/or server components. For example, various software modulesmay be implemented for performing various functions in connection withthe present invention, and such modules may be variously implemented torun on server and/or client components.

The skilled person will be aware of a range of possible modifications ofthe various embodiments described above. Accordingly, the presentinvention is defined by the claims and their equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A variable-resistance exercise machine withcommunication for smart device control and interactive softwareapplications, comprising: a sensor configured to detect movement of auser of the exercise machine; a plurality of moving surfaces eachconfigured to provide an independent degree of resistance to movement inresponse to the changes from a network interface; a network interfaceconfigured to communicate with a user device via a network, the networkinterface being configured to: receive input from the user device, theinput comprising a user interaction received via an interactive softwareapplication operating on the user device; change a degree of resistanceof each of a plurality of moving surfaces based on the input; receiveoutput from the sensor, the output comprising a detected movement of theuser of the exercise machine; provide the output to the user device. 2.The exercise machine of claim 1, further comprising the user devicecomprising a memory, a processor, and a plurality of programminginstructions stored in the memory which, when operating on theprocessor, causes the user device to: receive the output from thenetwork interface; and change the operation of the interactive softwareapplication in response to the output.
 3. The exercise machine of claim2, wherein the interactive software application is a virtual realityapplication.
 4. The exercise machine of claim 2, wherein the interactivesoftware application is software configured to enable use of the devicefor physical therapy.
 5. The exercise machine of claim 2, wherein theuser device is a wearable computing device.
 6. The exercise machine ofclaim 1, further comprising a plurality of steps configured to assist ahuman user in mounting and dismounting the exercise machine safely. 7.The exercise machine of claim 1, wherein at least a portion of theplurality of moving surfaces comprises an integrally-formed texturedsurface configured to provide adequate purchase when pressure is appliedby a portion of the user's body.
 8. A method for controlling avariable-resistance exercise machine with communication for smart devicecontrol and interactive software applications, comprising: receivinginput from a user device via a network interface, the input comprisingat least a user interaction received via an interactive softwareapplication operating on the user device; changing, using the networkinterface, a degree of resistance of each of a plurality of movingsurfaces of a variable-resistance exercise machine based on the input,the variable-resistance exercise machine comprising a plurality ofmoving surfaces each configured to provide an independent degree ofresistance to movement in response to the changes from the networkinterface; receiving output from a sensor, the output comprising adetected movement of a user of the exercise machine; and providing theoutput to the user device.
 9. The method of claim 8, further comprisingthe user device comprising a memory, a processor, and a plurality ofprogramming instructions stored in the memory which, when operating onthe processor, causes the user device to: receive the output from thenetwork interface; and change the operation of the interactive softwareapplication in response to the output.
 10. The method of claim 9,wherein the interactive software application is a virtual realityapplication.
 11. The method of claim 8, wherein the interactive softwareapplication is software configured to enable use of the device forphysical therapy.
 12. The method of claim 8, wherein the user device isa wearable computing device.
 13. The method of claim 8, furthercomprising a plurality of steps configured to assist a human user inmounting and dismounting the exercise machine safely.
 14. The method ofclaim 8, wherein at least a portion of the plurality of moving surfacescomprises an integrally-formed textured surface configured to provideadequate purchase when pressure is applied by a portion of the user'sbody.